


Divine Ideation

by Ruunkur



Series: Divine Ripples [11]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ingrid is a sweet heart and I loved this one, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruunkur/pseuds/Ruunkur
Summary: In a world where dreams tell you of your past life in reverse, Ingrid had her ideals. Only, sometimes things aren't quite what they seem.
Series: Divine Ripples [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659364
Kudos: 9





	Divine Ideation

_”Your Highness!”_

_Ingrid’s shouts were lost to the noise of the battle below her, the knight guiding her pegasus downwards. Wind buffeted at her face and there was a scream, her pegasus jolting before it began to plummet faster._

_Ingrid lost her voice screaming as the ground came closer. Something struck her shoulder, her last breath caught in her lungs as something else pierced her side. She knew the feeling of magic biting into her shoulder though she couldn’t have pinpointed who cast it._

_She tried to see beyond the haze of pain, the figures on the field no longer so distant. Closer now, she could see the hill on fire, though the ballista still fired round after round._

_Another thud and she was reunited with the ground, the soft feathers of her pegasus muffling her agonized screams._

Ingrid bolted out of the blankets, sweat dotting her skin. She struggled to breathe, pressing a hand to her side as the dream drifted out of her grasp. Tears welled up in her eyes as she made her way through the home of her friend.

Rodrigue was still sitting up, an old book in his hands. When he heard Ingrid approach he frowned, setting the book aside.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep, Ingrid?” he asked, watching as the young girl rubbed at her eyes, the tears unable to be stopped.

Ingrid dragged a hand over her eyes, stopping long enough to stare at Rodrigue. “I… I had a n-nightmare,” she managed before she began crying again.

Rodrigue stood up, reaching out to pull Ingrid into his arms. “What sort of dream did you have, dear?” he asked, casting his gaze upward as Ingrid clinged to him, her fists wrapping into his shirt.

She and Felix were only a few weeks apart in age, having met in their kindergarten class. It had been easy for Rodrigue to accept his son’s friend and to let her stay the night when her parents were too busy.

“There was…” Ingrid sniffed, trying to gather herself. After a long pause, she found the words, “a horse with wings. I was… flying and then, lots of pain.”

Rodrigue nodded, sitting back down on the couch with Ingrid still wrapped in his arms. He rubbed her back as she sniffed, staring downwards the whole time.

“You’ve heard the stories when you first started school, right?” Rodrigue asked, glancing upwards at the clock. It was a little after midnight and he was tired, but he was certain he wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night.

She gave a hesitant nod, glancing up at Rodrigue. “But…”

Rodrigue let out a sigh, wondering why her parents had picked this particular night to leave Ingrid with him.

“Sometime, people die traumatically. It’s no fault of yours that your dreams are horrible. As time goes on, you’ll learn more about your life as well as better times that you had.”

Ingrid rubbed at her eyes, tears still threatening to come. “But… it hurt.”

Rodrigue nodded, smoothing her hair down. “Death… always hurts.”

“Why?”

Rodrigue let out a hum, considering the question as the six year old blinked at him, no longer on the verge of crying.

“Because it means you left one life behind to live another. Dreams are a personal matter, of course, something to be kept a secret unless you trust the person well. Sometimes, people… use memories towards their own means. It would be wise to hold them close and let the story unfold before writing them off.” Rodrigue met Ingrid’s gaze, offering her a tissue.

She accepted it, blowing her nose and wiping at her eyes. “How did you die?”

“I died of old age,” Rodrigue replied, moving to stand. He set her on the ground, offering her a hand. “Would you like some chocolate before going back to sleep?”

Ingrid nodded, taking his hand and followed him to the kitchen.

*~*~*~*~*

“Don’t you ever wonder about the dreams?” Ingrid looked up from her book as she asked the question, directed at the boy who sat on the couch, his own book in his hands.

“No. They’re pointless.”

Ingrid frowned, studying the boy from the edge of her book. “They aren’t _pointless_ , Felix.”

Felix let out a huff, lowering his book and glared at Ingrid. “What good are dreams that show you how you died?”

“What about Sylvain and Dimitri?” she asked, naming their other two friends. Neither were in town at the moment, their parents having decided it was better to spend part of summer away from the suffocating city.

Felix rolled his eyes, turning back to his book. “What about them?” he asked.

“Don’t you think it’s weird, at all?” she pressed.

Felix sighed. “What do you think is so weird, Ingrid?”

Ingrid frowned at him. “Well, there’s the four of us, right? And… it was the four of us when we were younger, too. Before.”

“You put too much stock in the dreams, Ingrid.” Felix returned to his book, pulling his legs closer to his body. “So what if it’s what you supposedly did in the past? What kind of baring does it have on you now? What’s the point?”

“You learn lessons from your past life!” Ingrid snapped, putting her book down before she threw it at Felix.

“Lessons on how not to die, maybe.” Felix set his own book aside, meeting Ingrid’s gaze. “The main lesson is avoid the pointy end of the stick.”

“How did you die?”

Felix stared at her, eyes narrowed. “You can’t just ask someone how they _died_ , that’s rude!”

“I fell.” Ingrid ignored Felix’s statement, glancing towards the window and out it. The words hung heavy in the air before she glanced back from Felix. “I was a knight and I fell off the back of a pegasus-”

“You’re not supposed to talk about them.”

“Us four were friends too, back then.” Ingrid ignored Felix’s protests as she spoke, jutting her chin out. “We’re friends again, you can’t deny that.”

“I’m going to my room. You stay down here.” Felix got up from the couch, Ingrid opening her mouth before she let him go, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked towards the book that Rodrigue had gotten her for her ninth birthday. She picked it up, turning it over in her hands.

“You’re frustrating, Felix,” she muttered.

*~*~*~*~*

_”His… highness was declared dead, this morning.”_

_The news was somber as Rodrigue approached the trio of friends, his gaze guarded. He looked first to his son before Ingrid and Sylvain._

_Felix just scoffed, turning away from his father. “He would have just gotten us killed on the battlefield anyway. Good ri-”_

_“That’s your prin-” Ingrid began, Felix whirling on her. Her hand went to her lance, but he just stared at her, gaze cold._

_“Was,” Felix corrected, “and he was going to just march us all to our deaths without thought other than what he could offer his _ghosts_. He was mad, there was no-”_

_“Enough!” Rodrigue’s voice silenced the bickering pair._

_Ingrid glanced down at the floor with at least a hint of remorse as Sylvain sighed, looking towards Rodrigue. Felix still looked like he wished to argue, but he held his tongue._

_“While the prince is dead, we will still fight for the kingdom-”_

_“I’m not.”_

_Felix ignored the look his father gave him, narrowing his eyes. “The prince is dead, there _is_ nothing left here. The kingdom is falling, old man. The best choice we have of surviving is to form an alliance with the Alliance. Cornelia will give the Kingdom over to the empire-”_

_“There is a chance that Dimitri escaped.”_

_Rodrigue’s voice is soft, Ingrid jerking her head up._

_“If there’s a chance, we should go looking for him!” Her hand formed into a fist and she stared Rodrigue down, the man turning to her._

_“We’re already in the process of-”_

_“I’ll go,” Ingrid cut in, her eyes flaring._

_Rodrigue nodded, glancing up at Sylvain and Felix. “Will either of you-”_

_“No, let the boar rot. If he’s truly alive, he would have come here.”_

_“Felix-” Ingrid began, the beginnings of a lecture on the tip of her tongue. Rodrigue just sighed, shaking his head._

_“Let him go, he’ll come around soon enough. Ingrid, would you be willing to lead one of the groups dedicated to searching?”_

_Ingrid perked up at the question, nodding in agreement. “Of course, Rodrigue!”_

_“And you, Sylvian?”_

_Sylvain glanced between Rodrigue and where Felix had stalked off, letting out a sigh. “I think I have to agree with Felix on this one. You didn’t see him when… at the monastery. He…” Sylvain trailed off, Ingrid looking away._

_“Do you believe he would kill his uncle?” Rodrigue asked._

_“If he wasn’t in his right mind, if he thought…” Ingrid let the words slip without realizing it, glancing up at Rodrigue. “His Highness isn’t a monster. I’ll lead a group and we’ll find him, if he did manage to escape.”_

_Rodrigue nodded, Sylvain shaking his head._

_“I’m going to check on Felix.”_

_Rodrigue nodded, watching the man amble off. He turned back to Ingrid, who was staring down at the floor once more._

_“We’ll find him, Ingrid, if he is still alive.”_

_Ingrid bowed to Rodrigue, eyes filling with tears. “Of course and I’ll ensure that he returns home, I promise.”_

_Rodrigue nodded and Ingrid turned, striding away._

_She wasn’t surprised to find that Sylvain and Felix were both gone from the Fraldarius manner in the morning._

*~*~*~*~*

“Why are you like this?”

Felix’s voice lashed through the house as Ingrid stood in the doorway.

“It was merely a-”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

Ingrid frowned at the words, stepping further into the house. “Hello?” she called, voice tentative as the silence settled around them. She had been so certain-

“I don’t want to see you here, got it? Get out!”

Ingrid took a step back as Dimitri appeared from down the hall, eyes flashing in anger. He barely acknowledged Ingrid as he blew past her and out the door, his hair disheveled. The door slammed shut behind him and Ingrid jumped.

“Felix?” she called, swallowing back the frustration when she heard a door shut. She glanced over her shoulder, taking another step before she broke, heading towards Felix’s room. She knocked on the door, frowning.

“Go away!”

She jolted back at those words, shaking her head. “Felix, are you okay? What happened?”

“That damn boar doesn’t-”

The words were cut off in Felix’s frustration and the door was yanked open, though only a sliver of Felix’s face was shown. “Go home, Ingrid.”

“But-”

“I don’t want to see you.”

Ingrid let out a sigh. “Are you okay?”

Felix shut the door, leaving Ingrid alone in the hallway. She threw up her hands, turning to leave. She walked out of the house, ensuring the door was shut but not locked. At the end of the driveway, she ran into Sylvain, who looked tired.

“Felix is angry,” Ingrid muttered.

Sylvain stopped when she spoke, looking at her. “Do you know what happened?” he asked.

Ingrid shook her head. “We have a project we need to work on, but Dimitri was here when I got here and it seems like the pair got into an argument.”

“I guess I’ll go check on him. Are you coming over for dinner tomorrow?” Sylvain shifted the grip on his bag strap, glancing towards the house.

Ingrid hesitated, following his gaze. “Why don’t you text me and let me know what sort of mood Felix is in?”

Sylvain nodded, offering Ingrid a hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” Ingrid gave him a hug, breathing in his scent. “How are you?”

Sylvain gave a hesitant laugh, gaze flicking back to the house. “Rodrigue’s the only functional parent we have. Isn’t that sad?”

Ingrid laughed with him, pulling away and punching him in the arm. “He’s a good dad, really. Let me know how Felix is and I’ll let you know about dinner.”

Sylvain nodded, heading up the stairs to the house. Ingrid turned back, walking to her own home and the silence that lingered there.

That would be the first night of several that Ingrid would dream of her death, of the magic that struck her down, of the arrows that followed.

Of the nagging feeling that she knew that specific thrum of magic from somewhere that she couldn’t place.

*~*~*~*~*

“Felix, why did you stop talking to Dimitri?”

Felix ignored Ingrid’s question, turning the page in his textbook louder as Ingri huffed.

“He’s been trying to ask me to talk to you for weeks now, saying that you ignore him even at school. What happened-”

“I don’t want to _talk_ about it, Ingrid.” Felix’s voice was sharp and she trailed off, frowning at him.

“Is…” Ingrid paused, watching as Felix stared her down. She sighed, closing her eyes and shifted the book in her lap. “Felix, is this about… Glenn, in any way?”

Felix rolled his eyes, slamming his book shut. “Glenn never even _lived_ in this life and I’m still losing out to him.”

Ingrid frowned. As far as she was aware, no one had spoken of Glenn. When she was younger, it had felt off that Felix didn’t have a brother, but over the years she had grown used to it. It was just another thing that cemented the differences in their lives between then and now.

“I’m not… comparing you to him or anything, just asking a question.”

Felix groaned, falling backwards on his bed. “You know, when I first asked my old man about Glenn, he said he didn’t know who I was talking about?”

Ingrid frowned. “It’s… parents don’t-”

“He… slipped up once, and I… just couldn’t get it out of my head. If he was so… I don’t know, Ingrid. People, they’re usually reincarnated within two hundred years of their first life, right?”

Ingrid nodded, swallowing back the lump in her throat as Felix sat back up.

“So, why did we take so long to… I don’t know, get through the queue or whatever? Why did the four of us come back at the same time? I could have lived a hundred lives without ever seeing the boar again.” Felix blinked at Ingrid and she shook her head.

“I don’t know why we came back when we did. Maybe… we were given another chance to be friends?” she offered.

Felix shook his head, getting up from his seat. “It doesn’t happen, not like this.”

Ingrid nodded slowly, but was unable to give anything else to Felix as he walked over to his bookshelf. “Do you think… do you think that, maybe, dad could also be from that timeline?”

Ingrid frowned. “I doubt it, Felix.”

Felix hesitated, Ingrid getting up from her own seat.

“Besides, sometimes people who had strong bonds come back together, it’s happened before. We… were really good childhood friends.”

“I’m not friends with that boar-”

“I know,” Ingrid sighed, “you know he went to Almyra with his parents?”

Felix hesitated, turning to her. “Why?”

“He didn’t give me details, just said that there might be something to help him there with his…” she trailed off, unable to figure out what, exactly to call it.

Felix let out a grunt, pulling a book off the shelf and sitting back down. “He killed me.”

Ingrid frowned at him, Felix unwilling to meet her gaze. “Who killed you?”

“Dimitri, during the battle at Gronder field. We… He stabbed me, with Areadbhar. Right through the gut. He didn’t give a shit back then and he doesn’t give a shit now. He doesn’t care, he tried to keep the mask up, but it didn’t mask anything. He’s nothing but a monster.”

Ingrid stared at him, opening her mouth. “How…” The words felt too little as she stared at him, shifting in her seat. “Did you know for long?”

Felix looked away, his eyes hard. “I knew, for a while. He’s pretty hard to miss.”

“Did he know?”

Felix stared at her and Ingrid slipped her gaze back down. “He knew.”

“And yet…”

“It was a supid choice, okay? I didn’t think…” Felix gestured into the air with his book, placing it in his lap and flipping open to the chapter he had left on. “It doesn’t matter now. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ingrid nodded, turning back to her work. “I’m-”

“Don’t apologize, you had nothing to do with it.”

“Of course.” She picked up her pen, getting to work on her notes for the upcoming test.

*~*~*~*~*

_”Felix, are you really not coming back to the Kingdom?”_

_Ingrid stood in the shade of the trees, her hand on the neck of her pegasus. The letter had come earlier that evening and she had debated staying away from the appointed meeting place. Something drew her there, even as she kept watch for enemy patrols._

_Felix crossed his arms over his chest, unwilling to meet Ingrid’s gaze. “I was hoping that you might be… willing to join the Alliance. We’re heading to the monastery, Sylvain and I. We could… you could fight with us.”_

_Ingrid shook her head. “His highness-”_

_“Is as good as dead. What use is a prince that won’t show himself, Ingrid?” Felix jerked his chin upwards, arms tightening across his chest._

_“And you believe that the dead professor will show up as well?” Ingrid taunted._

_Felix shook his head. “No, we’re keeping a promise to our classmates.”_

_“You shouldn’t be _fighting_ for the Alliance, either of you!” Ingrid snapped, gaze darting to Sylvain. He blinked at her, his mouth tugging into a frown. “You were born in the kingdom and-”_

_“Half of the nobles of the Kingdom have turned to Cornelia, who bowed to the Empire without a second thought. Do you really think the Kingdom will come back together if Dimitri does show back up?” Sylvain asked, voice soft._

_Ingrid let out a snort. “At least I know something about loyalty!”_

_Sylvain grunted, Felix rolling his eyes as he pulled himself back up on his horse. “If we wanted to hear another lecture, we would have stayed, Ingrid.”_

_Ingrid narrowed her eyes. “The Alliance doesn’t have any better a chance than-”_

_“At least they aren’t chasing after a dead man. They’re at least trying to fight a war. What’s the Kingdom done? Split itself in half and give into in-fighting?” Felix demanded, his hand resting on his sword hilt._

_“We’re doing-”_

_“We’re leaving.” Felix nudged his knees into his horse’s side, Sylvain glancing back at Ingrid. She opened her mouth, the man shaking his head._

_“Felix is right, Ingrid. The Kingdom has fallen. Even if you were to find his highness, he was obsessed with Edelgard. That’s not a good look for a leader. How can he lead a kingdom if he can’t consider everything?”_

_“You two are the worst!” Ingrid snapped, “he is your-”_

_“He’s not. He was never crowned king. I don’t believe Dimitri killed his uncle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up being the truth. At least consider it before you throw your life away, Ingrid.” Sylvain turned his horse to follow Felix, leaving Ingrid alone in the quickly falling snow._

*~*~*~*~*

“So, you finally picked where you wanted to go to college?”

Ingrid nodded, swallowing down her mouthful of food. “Yes! I got my acceptance letter yesterday.” She set her fork down, grinning at Rodrigue. “It’ll be in another city, but I’m looking forward to it.”

“Are you staying on campus?” Sylvain asked, Felix scraping his fork against his plate as the others talked.

“I plan on it, at least for the first semester. I have the funds for housing off campus, but I want to spend at least a semester with the full college experience.”

Ingrid flashed Sylvain a grin, Rodrigue nodding along with her words. “What will you be studying?”

“History, with a specific focus in the mid eleven hundreds to mid twelve hundreds.”

“Why?” Felix asked, looking up from his food.

Ingrid met his gaze, frowning. “It’s not uncommon for history majors to study the century they lived through. And, I’m considering a teaching position.”

“I think it’s a lovely idea, Ingrid. You’ll have a good time in college. It was one of my favorite times, actually.” Rodrigue smiled, Ingrid nodding and chatting along with Rodrigue regarding her major and her plans.

She didn’t comment when Felix slipped out of the dining room. After a while, Ingrid went to find him, standing in his doorway for a moment before she knocked on the frame.

“When do you leave?” Felix didn’t look up from his phone when he asked the question, sitting at his desk with a frown.

“Tomorrow, but… after…” Ingrid hesitated, glancing away from Felix. “I was thinking of staying, after we heard the news about…”

“You should go.”

Ingrid frowned at him. “I… will you be okay?”

Felix tilted his head. “You stayed, before, because you thought he was alive and you were right.”

“You were right, too. He wasn’t in his right mind. He… led us to death.”

Felix closed his eyes. “But… you didn’t have to die.”

Ingrid shook her head. “I would have fought for the Kingdom until I was dead, even if Dimitri wasn’t around. I… I wanted nothing more than to be a knight, Felix. And I was able to be. I was able to leave my family behind. You said…”

“I died at Gronder field, at the end of the boar’s spear. But, I also killed my fair share of people in that battle.”

Ingrid frowned. “What does it matter anymore? The past should be the past.”

“Ingrid, do you ever wonder who killed you?”

Ingrid froze, staring at Felix. “I-”

“It was me.”

Ingrid stared at him, opening her mouth. She shut it, taking a step back. “Why would you-”

“You asked me once, about it. How I died, but it… dreams aren’t something that are talked about, Ingrid. Because then you get instants like these. I hope you do well in college.”

Ingrid turned, heading back down the stairs. The admission turned over in her head but she shoved it down, unable to think past the fog. She bid goodnight to Rodrigue before she left the house, swallowing back her confusion.


End file.
